Estimation of blood flow in the carotid artery and intraorbital ophthalmic artery by color pulse Doppler ultrasonography.

Blood flow velocity was estimated in the orbital part of the ophthalmic artery and in the carotid artery, by way of pulse Doppler ultrasonography. The equipment was a Toshiba SSA-270A machine. The material comprised 12 glaucoma patients (20 eyes, all with open angles) under satisfactory IOP control, mean age 52 years, and 28 healthy controls (mean age 40 years; 54 eyes). Systolic flow velocities of 46 cm/sec and 103 cm/sec, in the ophthalmic and carotid artery respectively, were found in the normal subjects. With mean values of 42 and 116 cm/sec in the glaucoma group there was no significant difference between groups. The same applied to the average flow velocities. A considerable interindividual variation was found.